Loom picker



Dec. -31, 1929. H, WE T r 1,741,353

Loon PI'CKER Filed Jan. -17. 1927 INVENTOR Ham/0 6. WEST Qg r'i,

Patented Dec. 31, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HORATIO G. WEST, OF EAST BROOKFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 DAVID PILS WORTH, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS LOOM PICKER Application filed January 17, 1927. Serial No. 161,472.

This invention relates to a loom and more particularly to the structure of the picker which serves to throw the shuttle.

Since the shuttle in a loom must travel several feet through the shed without any guide, it is obviously necessary to start it correctly on its path of traveland any inaccuracy in the shape or position of the picker is likely to be serious. The picker, as heretofore constructed for use on looms employed in weaving woolen goods, has comprised a rawhide body provided with a cylindrical hole mounted to slide on the picker rod. In the manufacture of such pickers from rawhide,

it has heretofore been necessary to soak the rawhide in oil for a long time before it could be worked into shape and then to dry it for a similarly long time. This has made the manufacturing costs excessive. Since the rawhide heats and wears away easily, it has been found necessary to keep the picker rod well oiled and the body of rawhide accordingly soaked in oil in the effort to minimize the friction and consequent rapid wear of the picker. Nevertheless the picker as thus constructed has worn away comparatively quickly.

As the bearing surface of the picker wears, the hole gets more and more out of shape so that the picker ultimately wabbles on its support and does not strike the shuttle accurately. Moreover, the shuttle point soon wears a depression in the head of the picker and this depression will become elongated. As a consequence, the shuttle may be struck by the picker inaccurately and be thrown in the wrong direction and perhaps out of the machine, making it liable to injure the oper ator seriously or to damage the clothbeing woven. This results at least in a loss of time as required to stop the machine and fix the 100111, thereby increasing the costs of production and otherwise interfering with the smooth operation of the mill.

It is accordingly the chief object of my ins face.

vention to provide a picker for a loom which may be cheaply and easily manufactured, which will be efiicient in operation and which will give a long and useful life of service.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a loom picker which will retain its shape for a long time and slide accurately on the picker rod and which will not 'wear seriously under the impact of the shuttle and will thereby throw the shuttle accurately.

With these and other objects in view as will be apparent to one skilled in the art, my invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawings illustrating one embodiment of my invention and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts:

Figure l is a vertical end elevation of the device;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the picker mounted on the picker rod;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail showing the arrangement of the bushing in the picker.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a picker construction which is made of such material and is so fashioned that the bearing surface which contacts with the picker rod will retain its shape for a long period of time and need be oiled only to a slight extent. As illustrated, the body of the picker may be made of suitable material, such as the rawhide heretofore used, but that portion of the picker which slides on the rod is constructed of an especially suitable and durable material which may be easily and properly fashioned and which may be secured rigidly to the body of the picker. A satisfactory bushing maybe made of a fibrous vegetable material, such as paper pulp, which may be made in thin sheets and then shaped in a special way to form the bearing sur- This fibre board, moreover, will serve satisfactorily to form that portion of the picker which strikes the shuttle. The remaining portions of the picker may be made of suitable material, such as rawhide or fibre board, and the different parts are secured together to form a solid body.

While the picker may be formed in various ways within the scope of my invention, I have illustrated it in the drawings as a laminated structure made of plates of fibre board and rawhide so arranged that the fibre board strengthens the picker body. The picker is suitably shaped for use in weaving cotton, woolen or other goods. The form illustrated is employed in a loom for weaving woolen goods, and has for this purpose a central plate 10 and an enlarged and elongated portion 11 which carries a bushing 12 arranged to slide on the picker rod 13. The other end of the picker has the head 14 arranged to strike the shuttle on the side 15. As will be understood, the picker stick strikes the back of the picker and shoots it along the rod 13 and thereby strikes and throws the shuttle through the shade of the fabric.

In order to form a bushing to slide on the picker rod, I make use of a strip of material which may be wound into shape and prefer for this purpose a sheet of fibre board, or paper material which has been pressed into a thin sheet under high pressure, and this thin sheet of material is wound in a spiral arrangement, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, to form a bushing having a cylindrical hole 20. This strip is secured to the picker body to prevent its working loose. A satisfactory way to accomplished this is to provide the spiral strip with projecting lips which may be secured to the central plate 10. The two lips 21 and 22 are made preferably of the same strip which forms the bushing. This may be done by a peculiar manner of winding the strip, as illustrated in Fig. I. As shown, the one piece strip is wound starting with the free end 25 to provide two or more spiral loops which form the central bushing hole 20. Then the material is brought clownwardly to form the first lip 21 and bent back upon itself to surround the central cylindrical portion of the. bushing and down on the other side to form the second lip 22. The other end 26 of the paper strip is tucked between the cylindrical portion of the bushing and the outer layer.

As will be understood, this paper bushing is formed separately, then placed with the two lips on each side of the plate 10 after which the plates 27 of suitable material are placed thereover and the parts are ready to be secured in place. The plates 27 are preferably formed of a single strip of rawhide bent over the end of plate 10 to form the enlarged head and aid in securing the bushing in place. At the other end of the picker which forms the striking head, a further strip of rawhide or other suitable material 28 is bent over the ends of the plates 10 and 27 and may enclose further fibre board strips 29 and 30 to make a larger striking head on the picker. As will be seen by reference to the drawings,

- the various parts are fastened together by rivets 31 or other suitable means.

It is found that a bushing constructed of fibrous vegetable material as described need not be oiled to any great extent but will slide easily on the picker rod without heating, thereby insuring a long life for the bearing surface. By providing the bushing with the lips 21 and 22 and passing rivets through these lips and the laminated body made up of the fibre board plate 10 and the outer rawhide layers 27, I so fasten this bushing to the rest of the body that it is held rigidly in place and there is no likelihood of its becoming loosened or working'out of shape. It will be apparent that wide variations may bemade in the construction of the picker and the materials employed therein, provided the essential features above described are included.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters g Patent is:

1. A picker comprising a body having at one end a head for striking the shuttle and at the other end a hollow enlargement a bushing separate from the body and located within said enlargement which is adapted to slide on the picker rod, said bushing comprising a strip of fibre board wound spirally to form a bearing surface and an extending lip and means fastening said lip rigidly to the body of the picker which holds the bushing in position.

2. A picker for a loom comprising a laminated body having at one end an enlarged head arranged to strike the shuttle and at the other end a bushing to slide on the picker rod, said bushing consisting of a sheet of material wound to form a spiral portion providing a cylindrical bearing surface. and two lips projecting laterally from the spiral portion which are secured to the laminated body of the picker. I

3. A picker for a loom comprising a laminated body including a plate of fibre board and a plate of rawhide fastened together, an enlarged head at oneend comprising fibre board arranged to strike the shuttle, an enlargement at the other end having a flexible strip of fibre board wound to form abushing which is arranged to slide on the picker rod and two lips projecting betweensaid body plates and means to fasten the lips rigidly thereto.

4:. A picker for a loom comprising a plate of fibre board, a strip of rawhide extending on each side of said plate and forming an enlarged end, a strip of flexible fibrous material in said end wound to form a bushing and lips extending between said strip of rawhide and the fibre plate, and means for fastening the parts rigidly together.

5. A picker for a loom comprising a body portion including a strip of rawhide bent to form a hollow loop at one end and having a head at the other end to strike the shuttle, a separate bushing for sliding on the picker rod formed of a spirally arranged strip of fibre board and cooperating parts on the bushing and the body portion for clamping the bushing in said loop.

Signed at East Brookfield, Massachusetts, this 6th day of January 1927.

HORATIO G. WEST. 

